June 18, 2026 · 5 min read
How to prep your logo for custom merch
Vector versus raster, safe sizes, and the three file details that decide whether your logo prints clean on stickers, patches and apparel.
Send a vector file whenever you can
A vector file (AI, EPS, SVG or a vector PDF) stores your logo as math instead of pixels, so it scales from a two inch sticker to a back print without ever going soft. If your designer sent you a folder of files, the vector is almost always the one you have never opened.
If all you have is a JPG or PNG from a website, send it anyway. We redraw logos in house all the time, and on most orders the cleanup is free. It just adds a day or two before your proof.
Mind the smallest detail, not the biggest
Embroidery cannot hold a line thinner than about a millimeter, so hairline outlines, thin script and tiny taglines fill in and turn into a blob. Before a patch or hat order, look at your logo at actual size and ask what still reads from arm's length.
Stickers and magnets are far more forgiving. Fine linework, gradients and photographic detail all print well on vinyl, which is why a lot of brands run a detailed sticker and a simplified embroidery version of the same mark.
Lock your colors before you order
Screens are backlit and fabric is not, so a color that glows on your phone can land noticeably darker on a hoodie. Tell us the Pantone or hex values you want matched and we will flag anything that will not translate.
Every order gets a digital proof before production. Look at it on a real screen, at real size, and say something if a color feels off. Changing a proof is free; changing 200 printed hoodies is not.